The Battalion: April 5, 2016

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TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2016 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2016 STUDENT MEDIA | @THEBATTONLINE

BATT Petroleum, meet business THE

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$12 million donation launches petroleum, business program By Brad Canon

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multimillion-dollar investment from the pockets of two former students will help petroleum engineers understand the complex relationship between business and oil. Anthony Bahr and Jay Graham, Class of 1991 and 1992, respectively, are owners of Wildhorse Resources in Houston, and have collectively donated $12 million of their personal funds to jumpstart a Petroleum Ventures Program at Texas A&M. The program, an academic collaboration between Mays Business School and the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering, targets petroleum engineering students and business

students with a desire to work in the oil and gas industries. The program aims to foster collaboration between these students by having them take courses together and work together on projects. Through the program, the Petroleum Business Impact Lab will be established. The petroleum engineering component will be called the Graham Petroleum Ventures Program and the Mays component will be called the Bahr Petroleum Ventures Program. “They are young and successful and want to teach students what they have learned from working — giving students a head start,” said Kelli Levey, communication specialist for the dean of Business Administration. Graham and Bahr have worked to start this program for almost two years. Since that time the oil industry has declined significantly,

but Graham said there is never a bad time to invest in the future of students going into the industry. “To be successful, one of the things I told the classes I spoke to on campus at Texas A&M was that you have to be able to weather the ups and the downs,” said Graham. “Regardless of where we are in the industry, investing in students makes sense regardless of a boom or bust in the industry.” Petroleum engineering students are not currently taught about how to deal with the financial side of running a business, said –Graham. Many engineers at oil and gas companies are the stewards of a company’s assets, but their majors are not setting them up to be managers of large companies, Graham said. “When you look across these upstream oil companies, for the PETROLEUM ON PG. 4

Anthony Eason — THE BATTALION

ARCHITECTURE

TRADITION

Aggies draft new facility designs for Mark Cuban

No Silver Taps ceremony in April

Project participants prepare to present final mock designs in May By Megan Rodriguez Dallas Mavericks owner and “Shark Tank” investor Mark Cuban is in the market for a multipurpose practice facility, and A&M architecture graduate students are working alongside HKS Inc. to come up with mock designs. Cuban launched the idea for the project after working with Bullock Board Chair and designer of the Dallas Cowboy’s AT&T Stadium Bryan Trubey. The facility is expected to be a home to offices and conference rooms that will allow room for startup technology companies. “Mark Cuban not only owns the Mavericks but also companies related to technology, to health care, and his vision for the NBA team is very different from all the other teams in the NBA,” Erminy said. “We thought it could be an interesting project to develop.” Every couple of years, the Architecture 606 class at A&M combines all its sections to create four studios to work on one single topic, said professor of architecture Michael O’Brian. This year, as Bullock Board Chair, Trubey proposed that students should work alongside HKS Inc. — the company running the professional design work for the stadium — to create mock designs for the project. Marcel Erminy, associate professor of architecture who helps facilitate the project, said the experience graduate students get from the project gives them a taste of what it’s like to interact with a client and a professional architect. “We have the best of both worlds,” Erminy said. “We have a real client that is going to tell what he [Cuban] thinks of what his project should be, and Brian Trubey who is an expert professional architect with a lot of experience, is actually helping the students and sort of guiding them towards a solution.” Koichiro Aitani, architecture associate pro-

There will be no Silver Taps ceremony Tuesday, nor will there be any for the remainder of the academic school year. The next Silver Taps ceremony will be held Sept. 6, 2016. — Staff Report

FOOTBALL

Speedy Noil arrested in driving spat A&M wide receiver charged with driving without a license

PHOTO VIA TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

An A&M architecture student shows Mark Cuban a potential design for a Dallas Mavericks’ practice facility.

fessor, said the experience is unique because students learn to deal with the possibility of experiencing rejection on a design from their client. “All the projects students work on are usually imaginary but now we actually have a client. It doesn’t mean that what students propose will be built but it will be practical practice of what it is like with a real client,” Aitani said. “It’s like

a two way relationship. Students will present what they think but sometimes that is rejected by the actual client. That is a very good learning experience.” The four student studios working on the project have unique sets of challenges because each works on designs for the different hypothetical locations in Dallas, said Erminy. ARCHITECTURE ON PG. 4

COACHING

Morgan Engel — THE BATTALION

Kyle Keller hired as SFA basketball coach Billy Kennedy sees second exit from staff By Heath Clary

PHOTO VIA 12THMAN.COM

Kyle Keller was hired as head coach of SFA’s men’s basketball team.

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Former Texas A&M assistant coach Kyle Keller has been hired as the new head coach of the Stephen F. Austin men’s basketball team, the university announced Monday. Keller will replace Brad Underwood, who recently accepted the Oklahoma State head coaching job after leading the Lumberjacks to an upset over third-seeded West Virginia and a berth in the second round of this season’s

NCAA Tournament. “Kyle brings a wealth of experience having worked for great coaches like Eddie Sutton, Bill Self and Billy Kennedy,” said SFA director of athletics Robert Hill. “This experience will fit well to continue our SFA basketball culture of winning championships and making NCAA tournament appearances. He cares deeply for his players and is a wonderful husband and father. We are so happy he has agreed to become a Lumberjack.” Keller just completed his 25th season as a coach, five of which came at A&M. His career has

included stops at Kansas, Oklahoma State, Louisiana Tech and Texas-San Antonio (UTSA). This move marks the second exit from Billy Kennedy’s staff this offseason, as Rick Stansbury left the Aggies for the head coaching job at Western Kentucky last week. Keller will take over a program coming off one of the best seasons in program history and in the midst of a terrific three-year run. The Lumberjacks have lost only one conference game in the past three seasons and will return two starters from last year’s 28-6 squad.

Junior wide receiver Speedy Noil was arrested Friday.

Staff Report Texas A&M wide receiver Speedy Noil was arrested Friday for driving without a license, according to Brazos County arrest records. Noil saw both his catches and receiving yards decrease by about half from 44 to 21 and 559 to 226, respectively, from his freshman year to his sophomore year. Noil has seen his fair share of disciplinary action during his A&M career. The junior was suspended for a violation of team rules for both the Nov. 14 game against Western Carolina along with the 2016 Music City Bowl against Louisville. The bowl suspension will also carry over to the opening game of the 2016 season at home against UCLA.

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